News from 2005 that is best forgotten

Among the stories, fatal attraction to a horse

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, December 26, 2005

SPOKANE -- The love of animals is one of the more ennobling traits of humans. But love WITH animals is something else entirely.

And so the saga of the guy in Enumclaw who tried to have sex with a horse and was killed in the process tops the annual list of the Lowlights of 2005 in Washington.

In no way pretending to be a comprehensive list, these lowlights are a chronicle of the heinous, the disgusting and the demoralizing side of humanity.

EQUINEPHILIA: James Michael Tait and Kenneth Pinyan entered a barn near Enumclaw in July so Pinyan could have sex with a horse while Tait videotaped the event. Pinyan suffered internal bleeding and died.

Investigators discovered that the farm was a barnyard brothel of bestiality, known nationwide for catering to people who had sex with animals.

Hundreds of hours of videotape were found, and a state senator proposed that Washington should finally pass a law banning bestiality.

GO WEST, YOUNG MAN: The sex scandal that enveloped Spokane Mayor James West could fill an entire Lowlights column on its own. West was recalled from office after a newspaper contended that he offered young men city jobs and perks in exchange for sex.

A computer expert hired by The Spokesman-Review to pose as an 18-year-old high school student and catch West misusing his office used the screen name "Moto-Brock," which to Washingtonians of a certain age recalled the specter of former U.S. Sen. Brock Adams.

Adams was accused by a former congressional aide of drugging her and taking her to bed. Eight more women came forward with allegations that Adams harassed them, and he declined to seek re-election in 1992.

BELIEF IN AFTERLIFE: A man charged with killing two registered sex offenders in Bellingham displayed a glorious belief in the afterlife.

Michael A. Mullen offered a variety of motives for the killings, the most unusual being his desire to harm registered sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan III. Duncan is in jail in Idaho on charges of killing three people so he could kidnap two children for sex.

In a letter, Mullen said he wanted to be executed and waiting in hell when Duncan arrives, so he can beat him. It was unclear if Mullen had figured out how to find Duncan in hell.

BEAUTIFUL MINDS: Seattle has a reputation for producing some of the sharpest technical brains in the nation. But it wasn't always so. The city's Monorail tracks didn't leave enough room for the only two cars to pass each other at one point on the route.

In November, the driver of one car failed to yield to the other car at that point. The two cars sideswiped each other on a curve and ground to a halt, stuck together. There were no serious injuries.

THE YAKIMA REDEMPTION: Four inmates escaped the Yakima County Jail in 1994 by ramming a hole in the fourth-floor ceiling, crawling through ductwork to a roof vent, then using a bed sheet rope to lower themselves to freedom. Jail officials ordered that the facility be made escape-proof.

But on Nov. 25, nine inmates cut through the ceiling of their fourth-floor unit, kicked open a roof vent and escaped -- basically the same plan used in 1994. The last of the escapees was not caught until Dec. 15.

Asked what measures had been taken after the first escape, jail director Steve Robertson told county commissioners, "I can't figure out what the hell they did." Jail officials now say the vents on the roof have been "substantially" fortified.

FREE THE STRIPPERS: A group is trying to overturn Seattle's strict new rules for strip clubs, which banned high-revenue lap dances. Seattle Citizens for Free Speech quickly got 35,000 signatures on petitions opposed to the ban, likely enough to put the regulations up to a public vote.

The residents' outrage was sparked when the City Council voted to require that dancers keep 4 feet from customers, that customers be banned from directly giving money to the dancers, and that clubs maintain lighting levels akin to that of a decently lit parking garage.

Critics complained the rules were designed to shut down Seattle's few remaining strip clubs.

I'LL BE GOING: In August, a state prison guard who was arrested after a drunken brawl at a nightclub got into more trouble when he allegedly urinated on a jail computer.

Damage to the computer, monitor, fax machine and other hardware was estimated at $1,500, and other equipment was rendered unusable because of the contamination. Shannon apologized.

WILL TICKET FOR FOOD: In early December, a State Patrol trooper disguised as a panhandler at a highway offramp in Vancouver helped nail people for seat belt and other violations. Sgt. Jason Linn served as a spotter for colleagues hidden around the corner.

Linn carried a sign saying "Happy Holidays and Buckle Up!" and a flashlight. He peered inside cars as drivers took the exit from state Route 500, and then radioed information that allowed colleagues to stop 41 vehicles and issue 47 tickets.

LICENSE, INSURANCE AND A FEEL: A former Washington State Patrol trooper convicted of fondling women during traffic stops was ordered to pay more than $40,000 by a King County judge. Michael Idland, 41, was placed on four years probation.

Idland was accused of groping up to 10 women pulled over during drunken-driving traffic stops in 2002, many near the Evergreen Point Bridge.

NO FRED HERE: Fred Russell, a fugitive for four years from charges that he caused a traffic accident near Pullman that killed three people and injured four others, was arrested in Dublin, Ireland.

Russell had created a new life under the alias David Carroll, working as a security guard in a lingerie shop. Even his fiancee, Hazel McNaboe, did not know his real name and background, but she promised in court that Russell would not run if released on bail.

Russell remains in jail, but could not have chosen a better hideaway. Ireland virtually never extradites people to the United States, in part because it considers the U.S. legal system exceptionally harsh, and Russell may never be sent back to face charges.